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first time poster, and i've looked at LSN and law school predictor and now i'm trying to figure out my final list.

GPA 3.75
LSAT 159 dec 09/171 june 10

reach: harvard, stanford, columbia, nyu, upenn
target: UVA, duke, georgetown, ucla, usc
safety: gw, boston u, loyola

i'm thinking about going into criminal law/litigation but i don't necessarily know where i want to practice yet.

am i overestimating myself (especially given my first LSAT score)? i figure harvard and stanford i have little to no chance but i only apply once, right, so i might as well. any other safeties i should consider? anything i should take off?

Are you a URM?

EDIT: whoooops misread your lsat

LSP appears to be rather credible when its not dealing with URM's. I'd go with it on this one. The typical question that's asked at this point to determine where you want to go is, where do you want to practice?

I'll tell you right now, I'd just blanket the T14 as soon as possible and watch where the petals fall. Although, I should mention that this usually goes tot he "What ar my chances?" forum - but that's okay.

Only redo the LSAT if you're sure that you can score higher and you're determined to get into the T3.

Tiva wrote:Are you a URM?

I hate to say this, but you should really retake. A few extra points would do a load of good.

OP has a 171, does he really need a retake?

OP, I think you have a good list, and probably don't even need to apply to the safeties on it (especially not Loyola, don't bother there). I also support applying to H and S; they might be reaches for you, but you'll never know if you don't try.

You might add Michigan. It's a good school and you have the same kind of odds there as Penn and UVA (which are Michigan's peer schools).

not a URM, and realistically not convinced i can do much better on the LSAT. given that, i was going to apply ASAP, do well this semester, and update my grades in december.

thanks for the advice, especially re: Michigan.

oh, and sorry about the posting geography...

vanwinkle wrote:

Tiva wrote:Are you a URM?

I hate to say this, but you should really retake. A few extra points would do a load of good.

OP has a 171, does he really need a retake?

OP, I think you have a good list, and probably don't even need to apply to the safeties on it (especially not Loyola, don't bother there). I also support applying to H and S; they might be reaches for you, but you'll never know if you don't try.

You might add Michigan. It's a good school and you have the same kind of odds there as Penn and UVA (which are Michigan's peer schools).

Ohh snap. I misread that. I only read the 159. Ignore me.

I am going to second the blanket the t14 suggestion. I am sure you will get into some great schools.

.

Get rid of Boston U and Loyola and apply to Berkley and Michigan

Apply to all of the T14, anything else should depend on regional preferences (eg. if you want to work in LA you could apply to USC or UCLA to see if they give you lots of $$)

Also think about applying ED to Columbia or NYU if you think you might want to start at a BigLaw firm.